Thread: OT- Parts washer solvent?

A friend is giving me a small parts washer. Nothing fancy, just your garden variety HF 10 gallon unit with a small pump.

I'm trying to decide what to use as a solvent. My ideal fluid would have the following:

1: Local availability!!!

Something that can be had at a home improvement store, NAPA, etc. I don't want to pay to ship a 70lb bucket of fliud.

2: Preferably non aeromatic, and not petrolium based.

I don't want the fire hazard of keeping kerosene, diesel, or mineral spirits laying around in large quantity. The odor is a huge turnoff too.

3: Good on car parts.

Intakes, cylinder heads, bolts, etc. I probably have a better chance of meeting God than finding a non-petrol based solvent that will remove carbon deposits, but hey, gotta ask.

4: Room temperature.

Eventually I might add some type of heater but for now it has to work at 68*F fairly well.

5: Safe for aluminum.

Everything these days is aluminum, and some cleaners like Simple Green and Castrol Super Clean will destroy the finish if not 100% completely cleaned off.


So, thoughts on the subject? I know the EPA has been cracking down on these fluids for a while so I'm sure there are plenty of "friendly" fluids out there, but do any of them work? The only two I have used were Safty-Kleen (works OK but I think it has to be ordered) and OzzyJuice (works great but requires a special heated parts washer with a reverse osmosis system in it...)

When I had a class on appliance repair in San Diego Ca. the school used kerosene in a parts washer to clean the transmissions of the wash machines we worked on. It was available and (then)cheap and had no negative effect on aluminum or plastic parts.

It has a higher flash point than say gasoline and is not as bad on your hands but long solvent resistant gloves are suggested.

Two choices that I can think of:
1) B-100 biodiesel (i.e., fatty acid methyl ester), food grade, GRAS, shippable, biodegradable, nice smell, etc. but flamable. Actually sold for this purpose.
2) ethyl-lactate, used for cleaning circuit boards, again biodegradable, hard to find, flamable but not explosive, skin irritant.

MitsTech
Grainger has the flud for parts washers in 5 gal. pails part # 4WT03 about $66.00. They have other types as well.

Thanks for all the replies, keep them coming!

Another question: once spent, how to dispose of used solvents, particularly kerosene or diesel based solvents?

One company I worked for used Simple green at a 50/50 water concentrate mix for their parts washer. This unit is still there today. A times they would go to heavier concentrations. I have used simple green as a degreaser in my shop from a small bucket at 2 to 1 Simple green to water mix and it has worked. I have also used Simple green crystal.

It is not as good as diesel or a petroleum based solvent, but it does work. It also keeps me out of the doghouse with the EPA and Hazmat, especially seeing it is a school shop and I really do not have the funds or wherewithall to deal with hazmat disposal beyond the minimum coolant sump and waste oils I already have to deal with.

My students tend to like it better as well, they do not have that solvent stink when they go to their next classes.

One drawback is that you have to "light oil" the parts with a rust preventative or excessively and carefully blow parts dry with an airhose. For rust preventative, I use "Rustlick" from the MSC Catalog.

If you know someone with one of those heaters that burn waste oil they will probably take it off your hands for you.

I probably have a better chance of meeting God than finding a non-petrol based solvent that will remove carbon deposits, but hey, gotta ask.

The classic parts washer solvent is "Stoddard Solvent" which is just low odor mineral spirits. About $5/gallon at Home Depot or Walmart.

The cheapest I've been able to find it is "Hi Flash" Parts Washer Solvent at Tractor Supply Company: $33 for a 5 gallon pail.

http://www.mytscstore.com/detail.asp...78726&x=10&y=4

I don't like to use water-based cleaners like Simple Green or the various Orange stuff because it tends to rust the parts.

Another question: once spent, how to dispose of used solvents, particularly kerosene or diesel based solvents?

Weed killer

It depends on how much, around here the dump will
take them for a small fee, but only a few gallons
here and there.

Large amounts will have to go to a toxic waste
disposal company and they will charge a lot
and won't allow you to drop it off.

Thanks again.

I never understood why it's such a PITA to dispose of hazardous materials. Everyone wants these materials to be recycled or otherwise safely disposed of, yet they want you to jump through hoops to do it.

It's no wonder so many people still dump used motor oil and other chemicals in the sewer or local woods.

I second the Parts Washer Solvent from TSC. Probably just mineral spirits, but I think my local Home Depot wanted $8 or so a gallon for mineral spirits, didn't have 5 gallon containers of it. I've got my parts washer in my garage, and the only time I notice the smell is when I open the lid of the parts washer, otherwise I can't even smell a trace of it (at least not above the faint oily garage smell that's there anyways).

applescotty

mineral spirits

Question about the TSC solvent, is it compatible with mineral spirits to top off a recirculating type parts washer? Mines getting low and that's about the best price I've seen for a solvent type fluid.
Dave

Here where I live I use URSOL.There also used to be a NAPASOL.Ursol works great for all parts.I built a 50 gallon drum and an old stainless sink into a parts washer.Bought the pump at Princess Auto.I pour 5-10 gallons in,mount the pump off the bottom about 5-6 inches and pour in 1-2 litres transmission fluid.The trans fluid is good for its detergent properties and also a lot easier on the hands this way.I have used mine for three years now.I emptied the barrel once and let all the scum settle then gently poured the solvent back in barrel(after cleaning it ) Topped it with another 5 gallons and good to go.Put the scum in a burn barrel or in an old paint can and take to dump for disposal.

Put the scum in a burn barrel or in an old paint can and take to dump for disposal.

I thought Canada was full of greenies, wow
you sure can't do that here!
They don't even want "old paint" in paint cans
even if it's water based at the dump.
It all depends on where you live, I believe
California, USA to be the worst, I think baby
vomit is considered toxic waste here.

They make it tough to do the right thing, if
you "properly" dispose of waste, they want to
know where it came from. If it is over a few
gallons they are going to want all kinds of
permits and want to see your shop. Most of the
chemicals you guys recommended are "illegal"
for business use here. The only "approved"
things are like Safety Kleen, Mirachem, etc,
and they must be serviced by a route driver
and you must have records or you get fined.
Paint thinner, acetone, Mek, etc all "illegal"
and if you get caught with them it's a fine.
The fire department enforces those laws in the
city and they can walk into any business at
anytime for inspection. That's the report from
California USA, only the hobby guy or weekend
mechanic can have all the chemicals they sell
at the local hardware store, not the machine
shops.

Another vote for mineral spirits. Readily available everywhere.

I personally use kerosene. If you want something with no smell; buy varisol. It is just kerosene with the sulphur removed. If you let the kerosene sit, the solid particles will settle to the bottom. The fluid will clear up and look water clear. I then mix the clear fluid with animal fats and make really killer cutting oil. A lot of times I use tank kerosene for fuel and other uses. There is never enough and I am always draining the tank.

At work we use stoddard solvent. The stuff cuts crud as good as soap and water. It is next to useless. Disposal is a real pain too. We tried simple green, but it is not going to do as good as simple stoddard solvent. Hot water and soap are in the same league. I always tell the tree huggers to just keep scrubbing. Gaia likes people with carpel tunnel.

The so called environmentally friendly replacements do two things. First, they do a lousey job. Second, they usually are more harmful to the environment than what they replaced. I once used alcohol as a solvent and thinner. Now the new replacement crap is toxic and it can not be used as a thinner. Someone should inform the greenies that alcohol is a product made from renewable resources and it is natural too. The two problems with alcohol are the low flash point and the hygroscopic thing.

Charlie Biler

I have been using Greased Lightning. It is mixed 1 gallon G.L. to about 8 gallons water.
For the heater part, there is an aquarium heater on the side, hanging into it. The glass on the heater is protected with a piece of galvanized fence rail tubing. It has holes drilled into it. At first my idea was to put a halogen light under it to heat it up when I needed it, because there would be no open flame.

But ,then there was the thought of the cleaner spilling on the light and having a blow up electrical mess.


The Greased Lightning seems ok so far. You can also wash the parts with carb cleaner, then go to the G.L.

If I have to weld an aluminum trans housing, a visit to the car wash will pressure off the big stuff. Take it home and hang it over the parts washer with a cherry picker. Use a metal engine tray from Auto Zone, 2' x 5' and let it catch the drippings. Dump back in the parts washer.

After a few washings, run the solvent through a funnel with a T-shirt filter into a couple of 5 gallon buckets. Remove the remaining sludge with a putty knife. Put in small container. Take to work and dump in steam cleaner pit.

[img]smile.gif[/img]


Jackal

Over the years I've run everything stated here at one time or another. The best by far was the petrolleum based parts cleaning fluid I got from Enco. It was $28/5ga, but that was a few years ago. Worst was a toss up between #2 diesel and all the water based stuff.

I made my tank type cleaner myself. It's basically a deep metal box with a lid, and a shelf at about half depth. It was nice to let things soak. But then I discovered that water was rusting the bottom of the tank. I think it got in there from condensation, or maybe from the occaisional damp part. With the HF units I would be worried about eventual perforation of their thin sheet metal bottom and coming out one day to find all your cleaner on the floor. I ended up converting mine to a dry tank. The fluid drains down into a non-rusting plastic bucket with lid, and a recirculating pump sends it back up to a flow-through brush. The deep tank now acts like a handy splash guard. I seem to recall that the Safty Clean units had a plastic bag liner in the barrel. You might want to think about that as I now realize the bag was probably there more to deal with rusting than to make disposal of the sludge easier.

I ran 100% Simple Green in my Northen Tool brand 20 gallon parts washer. The concentrated Simple Green seemed to work very well, particularly on aluminum parts....esp. if I soaked them overnight. I have a heater on mine as well....that helps too.

The big negative for simple green is that is caused massive corrosion in the tank on my parts washer (it ate the black paint off the tank). And then after a few months, if left stagnant, it formed a very nasty rust skin. The other downside is the cost.

I think I will use Tractor Supply Mineral based solvent this time around.

By the way, don't waste your money on the Northern Tool brand of Aqueous based solvent.....it doesn't clean work a flip. Totally diappointing.

-erik